


stardust hearts

by WishingTree



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Fallen Star AU, First Meeting, pre-relationship i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-17 07:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16512314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: In which Yasmin Khan accidentally steps into another dimension, and a star falls to Earth.





	stardust hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Started as a stardust au and then I abandoned that so sort of just a fallen star au now

Yaz checks her notepad one more time before flipping it shut and tucking it away, putting her hands on her hips. Ryan and Graham have been missing for two days now, and though it hasn’t been long enough to raise any alarm, she has a bad feeling.

There’s nothing around except for some shops and a wide open alley, empty save for a blue police box, old and faded and casually stood against the wall, and she furrows her brow at the sight, something about it distinctly out of place. Taking one last look at the street around her, Yaz steps off the sidewalk and past the buildings, strolling down the alley to have a look around. She continues past the police box, brushing her fingers against the lettering on the door as she goes, and a strange feeling washes over her, lasting only a moment before fading.

It’s edging on early evening and she sighs, dropping her hand. She’s found nothing that could give a clue to what happened to Ryan and Graham. Reaching the end of the alley, she pokes her head around the corner and shakes her head again, but before she can blink everything around her changes.

There’s only forest and fields and rolling hills in front of her, green extending for miles instead of the city street she’d been expecting. She blinks hard and then turns around to go back, but the alley she was just standing in has vanished as well. 

“Aw, hell,” she whispers to herself, her jaw going slack as she takes in her new surroundings and the lack of a way out. 

Before she even has a chance to try getting her bearings, there’s a brilliant light streaking across the darkened sky, and Yaz gasps instinctively, smile spreading across her face at the sight. She lifts her head to watch it go, wonder filling her chest, but given a moment, the shooting star doesn’t disappear. In fact, much to Yaz’s confusion, it appears to be getting bigger, as impossible as that is.

For a moment, everything is blinding, enough that Yaz throws an arm up to cover her eyes, and then it all disappears from view when there’s a loud sound that reverberates through the air, the ground shaking with impact. Instinctively moving forwards, she doesn’t think whatever that was has landed very far, and she’s proven right when she crests the next hill. There’s a smoking crater in the middle of the field, grass all flattened away from the epicentre, and Yaz scrambles down towards it, one hand out for balance and the other ready to catch herself if she trips.

She hears a voice call out her name, and her head jerks up in surprise, taking in the two figures approaching her from the other side of the crater.

“Ryan?” she yells back, mouth dropping open, “Graham? I was looking for you!”

“Hi Yaz,” Ryan huffs when he reaches her, sucking in a breath, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m proper chuffed to see you, but how did you find us?”

Shrugging helplessly, Yaz keeps one eye on the crater and makes a confused sound. “How did you end up here? Do you know where we are?” she smiles at him distractedly, relief flooding in even as she strains her eyes to catch a glimpse of whatever had just fallen from the sky.

“Not the faintest idea,” Graham answers, breathing heavily with his hands on his knees, but he quickly straightens to follow when Yaz steps closer to the site of the crash.

There’s a woman lying on the ground, blond and wearing the most ridiculous outfit Yaz has ever seen, and before Yaz can get concerned, she starts to stir. A person may have been the very last thing she had expected to find, but she has to admit, she certainly isn’t disappointed.

The woman is sitting up by the time they approach her, looking around with her mouth open in a wide grin as if she’s seeing everything for the first time. There’s a faint glow around her, thrumming deep within her skin and giving off a gentle light, but Yaz rubs her eyes, sure she has to be imagining that. It’s darker here, and the woman’s eyes glitter like starlight. 

“Hello,” she says brightly, her face breaking into an even _wider_ grin, and Yaz steadfastly ignores the way her heart has started thumping, breath caught in her throat.  

“Hi?” Ryan answers from behind her, but Yaz barely hears him, too intent on staring at the woman who had apparently fallen from the _sky_.

She’s beautiful, and Yaz hurriedly rubs her eyes again, trying to get rid of the spots of light dancing on her eyelids.

“Hello!” the woman repeats as she jumps to her feet, overbalancing with the motion, and Yaz reaches out to steady her with her hands on her arms.

“Are you alright, madam?” 

Up close, the woman is stunning, all gentle eyes and soft features, and Yaz tries her best to keep breathing. She thinks she’s doing rather well, and then the woman directs that smile at _her_ , and she loses track of herself completely.

Even the air feels different now, being this close to the woman, and Yaz wonders dimly what the blazes is going on. Her fingers are tingling, and the woman’s sleeve crinkles under her grip.

“Why are you calling me madam?” the woman asks surreptitiously, furrowing her brow and leaning towards Yaz as her hands clasp around her forearms.

“Because… You’re a woman?” Yaz tries, hesitation and confusion warring on her face again. She smells really nice, like a mix of fresh air and firewood and stardust, and Yaz mentally shakes herself, trying to get a grip.

“Am I?!” The woman perks up, “That means… I have to be…” She gasps, wonder blooming on her face, and Yaz lets her go with a short intake of breath as she starts muttering excitedly, pacing back and forth in a tight loop. She can’t understand what she’s saying, but then the woman spins on her heel to face Yaz again.

“Oi, quick question,” she flaps an arm at her, pausing to stare at her fingers before refocusing on Yaz, “Where am I?”

“Uh, Sheffield,” Yaz answers on instinct, confusion colouring her tone. “Or, I mean, I… think that’s where we are? It seems to have disappeared on us…” 

“Right. A mystery! Love a mystery. Now where’s that?”

“…South Yorkshire?” Ryan tries.

“Hmm,” the woman makes an understanding noise, crossing one arm and tapping her cheek. She seems to be deep in thought, and Yaz sighs.

“You don’t know where that is either, do you,” she hazards, and the woman beams at her.

“Not at all! But apparently we’re not there anyways, so there’ll be time to learn it later.” 

Something seems to distract her, and she blinks a couple times in quick succession before gaping in Yaz’s direction in wonder, quickly staggering backwards a few steps. Yaz stares back, and then she looks over her shoulder to check if there’s something behind her.

There’s nothing, and when she turns to face her the woman meets her eyes with amazement written all over her face, the stillest Yaz has seen of her so far, and the moment seems to stretch on forever. Her heart is suddenly thudding in slow motion, pulse sounding in her ears, and she wonders vaguely if this is supposed to be happening.

The woman steps forward in a graceful motion, raising a hand and laying it on Yaz’s cheek, and Yaz only knows she’s not dreaming because she can hear Ryan choking on his breath behind her.

“You… You’re so…” the Doctor is mumbling to herself again, eyes searching Yaz’s face as she leans forward so they’re almost nose to nose, and Yaz is completely frozen. “…Beautiful.” 

Then the Doctor’s eyes widen and she goes back to whirling around, dropping her hand and hopping away, and Yaz tries desperately to continue breathing, blinking rapidly.

“I don’t know those places, but you’re human! You humans and your need to name everything, so many words to keep track of.” The woman stops abruptly. “Wait…” She drags the word out, squinting first at Yaz again and then down at herself, and then a delighted grin spreads across her face.

“I’m human too! Well, I look human anyways, this is wonderful! We can do humany things now, like jumping in puddles and using vending machines and eating toast, and even pears!” She stops and wrinkles her nose. “Or no, maybe we shouldn’t do the last one, no.” 

Yaz huffs a breathless laugh at the absurdity despite herself, but she still has no idea what’s going on.

“Who – who are you?”

“I’m the Doctor,” the woman tells her, and Yaz doesn’t understand the significance, but the word seems to carry weight behind it.

“And you’re… not from around here?” Graham asks unsurely, and the Doctor shakes her head, beaming at them as if they’ve just made all her dreams come true.

“Where are you from then?”

The Doctor spins around and squints upwards, tilting her head this way and that before stretching up on her toes and pointing at what appears to be a random spot in the sky. “There!”

Yaz follows her direction, even more confused than before, but the Doctor doesn’t give them pause, already moving on to her next topic.

“Everything looks so different up close,” she murmurs reverently, eyes wide with wonder. She looks down and seems to consider something for a moment before flopping to the ground and splaying her legs out in front of her, tapping her boots together as she plants her hands in the grass, and Yaz finds herself smiling again. “You lot really never fail to amaze.” 

She seems to brighten for a moment, maybe literally – Yaz squints her eyes again to try and decide if she’s imagining the light coming off of her – and then the Doctor leans back on her hands and lets her head roll to the side, seemingly unbothered by the hair that falls into her face. “Love Earth! All you little humans, so splendid and eager. So curious.” 

“Wait, back up. What do you mean you’re from the sky?” Graham steps forward, “Why do you keep calling us humans, like you ain’t one?” 

The Doctor stares at him blankly, casting her eyes up and then looking them over again, and she shrugs. “I’m a star! Isn’t it obvious? The sky is where I’m from.” She wriggles, an excited motion that has Yaz smiling again. “I’ve always wanted to come see Earth, you know,” the Doctor whispers conspiratorially, “This is all very exciting for me.” 

“So… a fallen star?” Yaz says, a cross between giddy and dumbstruck, and the Doctor grins and taps the side of her nose. 

“Yep.” 

“A proper star.” Yaz knows she’s repeating herself, but she has to be imagining things. “You can’t mean – this is a sort of metaphor for something, yeah?” 

But her mind is already compiling the facts. Clearly something is going on. The woman fell from the sky and survived, and says she isn’t human. She’s glowing, somehow both literally and not at the same time, and Yaz… Yaz would absolutely believe that she’s something extraordinary.

The Doctor scrambles to her feet, smiling broadly. “This is exactly the truth! Now, what do I call you lot?” 

Ryan looks bewildered, but he points a finger at himself. “I’m Ryan. That’s Graham, and Yaz.” 

Graham nods, and Yaz gives her a little wave, immediately regretting the clumsy motion.

“Brilliant! Nice to meet you all. Now, you said something about losing your town?”

They recount their story again, the Doctor listening attentively the whole while, and when they’re done she looks off into the distance, lips parted as she thinks. It takes a moment, and then she brightens again. “I can help you! Probably.” 

“You can help? How?” Graham asks skeptically, “Do you know anything about this place?”

“Nah,” she’s cheerful as she shrugs, putting her hands on her hips, “But isn’t that just the most marvelous thing?”

Yaz doesn’t really have an answer for her, and judging by the way they stay silent, neither do Ryan or Graham.

However, the Doctor isn’t fazed, lifting her hands again. “By the looks of things,” she waves a hand in a sweeping arc, “Combined with your experiences, I’d say you’ve somehow slipped between dimensions and wound up here, just in time to find me! Some coincidence, that.” She wrinkles her nose happily, “And now we’re friends!” 

Graham screws up his face in confusion. “How do you – you just made all that up, right?” 

“‘Course not. You’re my friends! It’s all real,” she tells him earnestly, adjusting her long grey coat. It swishes dramatically behind her, and Yaz stares at the way it settles over her shoulders.

“Then how do you know that? Not the – the friends bit, the – you’ve never even been here before,” Ryan scratches the back of his head, and the Doctor hums.

“I know lots of things, apparently. Learned so much just by watching.” They’re all staring at her in confusion again, and she widens her eyes and then hurriedly pats herself down. “What?”

“You don’t make any sense, you know that Doc?” Graham pipes up dryly, “Watching what? How much stuff could you possibly have seen?” 

The Doctor laughs. “Oh, I’ve seen loads,” she says, eyes sparkling, “Been around for centuries, haven’t I?” 

Halfway amused, Yaz’s eyebrows are raised as she gapes at her, not sure where to start with that statement, but the Doctor barrels onwards.

“Right. We have to get you three home! Sheffield, was it?” 

“Yeah,” Ryan nods, “You think you can find us the way back?”

“‘Course! Now, let’s get a shift on,” she declares, whirling around and marching off confidently in what’s seemingly a random direction, given that she abruptly changes her mind midstep and angles herself to the left, holding up a finger. She only staggers a little bit, nothing except that slight tilt betraying the fact that she had just _fallen from the sky_ , and Yaz wonders again exactly how strange her day has turned out to be.

“Come on then,” the Doctor calls over her shoulder, waving energetically for them to follow.

Now that she’s standing several paces away, Yaz can say with certainty that she’s actually glowing, the shine of an extraordinary light dancing under her skin. Blinking after her, Yaz turns to Ryan and then blinks some more. He shrugs, making an _after you_ gesture, and Yaz starts to move towards her for lack of a better option.

“Doctor,” she starts hesitantly, doing her best not to trip on her own feet as she gets closer, “Are you sure you know what to do?” 

The Doctor turns to give her a dazzling smile, and Yaz swears she can see stardust in her eyes. Maybe literally. “Come on Yaz, we’re friends now!” She shuffles back a few steps and links their hands together, swinging them twice and then tugging her forwards. “I promise to help you all find your way home. Do you believe me?” 

And Yaz knows this is crazy, knows this can’t be happening, and yet… it is. She doesn’t know what it is, but something about her makes her want to trust the Doctor, want to follow her wherever she may go. Something is drawing her in, an inexplicable force pulling at her, and Yaz is beginning to think she’s completely helpless to resist it.

The Doctor is still watching her, waiting for a response, and Yaz feels her face breaking into a smile.

Maybe it’s time to start believing.

**Author's Note:**

> Listen my guys, the angst potential for this verse is OUTRAGEOUS


End file.
